The 2026-2027 Young Creators Unit

Adrian Darwent is in over their head. They are an artist born and living in Tiohtià:ke, attending a BA in Creative Writing at Concordia University. They’ve dabbled in spoken word poetry, short fiction, songwriting, and a number of other small passions. Though their official accomplishments are somewhat sparse (few mentions on any billboards of note) Adrian takes pride in the art they create, centering their works around the people and communities in their life that inspire them. Their close family is oftentimes the nucleus of the stories they tell, but this sentimentality does not limit them from exploring, engaging with, and criticizing today’s inescapable political reality.

Photo Credit: Hanesa Banks

Amy Ring is a multidisciplinary artist with credits across theatre, film, and voice. She has performed in shorts, commercials, dubbing, and on stage, most notably in Imago & Geordie’s The Wolves. Her comedic short Scrappy which she wrote, starred in, and produced won Best Film at the ACTRA film Festival and screened at Fantasia. She wrote her first theatre script in elementary school, rehearsing it during recess. Now with dozens of scripts in progress, she’s ready to move deeper into writing and directing for the stage, and is thrilled to join the Young Creators Unit.

Photo credit: Emelia Hellman

Jessica Kinuyo Bakar is from Northern California and lives in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal). She is completing her B.A. in Creative Writing at Concordia University, where she serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief ofSoliloquies Anthology and received the Gabriel Safdie Award in Drama. Jessica’s background in creative nonfiction informs her instincts and interests as a playwright. Her nonfiction and poetry have appeared or are forthcoming in Geist, Grain, The Maine Review, Hippocampus Magazine, and elsewhere. She has recently received mentorship support under The Quebec Writers’ Federation (QWF) and The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP), and she is excited to develop her first play with YCU.

Photo credit: Jessica Kinuyo Bakar

Recently back from a well lived Artistic Hiatus, Juanita is ready to step back into the world of theatre and story-telling. After having trained in Dawson’s Professional Theatre Program, she has been looking for the perfect opportunity to further her artistic education and is excited to see what the YCU program brings.

Photo credit: WeAreArte.ca

Laurie Dumont-Bal is a biracial theatre artist with Indian and French-Canadian settler origins. She works as a playwright, director, producer, playback theatre artist and theatre teacher. Since 2023, Laurie’s play “Here” has received support from PGC’s Mentorship Program, Imago Theatre’s Nested Circles residency, and Teesri Duniya’s Fireworks Play Development Program. During 2024-2025, three public readings were presented across Canada at the Fireworks Festival (Teesri Duniya), Craft Bites International (PGC), and Gathering Divergence Festival (CPAMO). Laurie worked as co-writer for Climate Play (Imago Theatre and wâhkôhtowin project). She directed staged readings for Fireworks Festival (Teesri Duniya) and Park N Play (Infinithéâtre). She directed 18 musicals at the Segal Centre Academy, including four original musicals which she co-wrote. Laurie is passionate about collaborating on new works!

Photo credit: Brooklyn Melnyk Photography

Loves her grandparents. Loves when people come together to fight systemic oppression that leads to a revolution of workers overturning the ruling class and taking back the fruits of their labour by means of public ownership. Loves pasta.

Photo credit: Lily

Madeline Savoie is a playwright, performer, producer, and dramaturg with a BFA in Performance Creation from Concordia University. Their writing has been featured in the NotaBle Acts and Plain Site Theatre Festivals in their hometown of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and more recently as a finalist in Infinithéâtre’s Write-On-Q competition. Madeline is currently the General Manager of Out of Body Performing Arts, having initially joined the company as a dramaturg and performer on “THE WAVES” and more recently serving as co-producer of Out of Body’s “Cold Reads” series. Through their other company, Paper Sailor Theatre, they have developed projects such as “Personal Best,” “Exit Left at the End of the World,” et “MIXTAPE.”

Photo credit: Emily Savoie

Masha is an actor/creator with a background in physical theatre and a love for new work development. She thrives in chaos, curiosity, and movement. Amongst trees, playfulness, and loved ones. Between two main activities: wondering and wandering. Born in Russia, raised in the Emirates, and primarily based in Tio’tia:ke, being on the move is second nature to Masha, and after graduating from Concordia’s Performance Creation program, she has continued her training internationally with ArtHaus Berlin, the Grotowski Institute in Poland, Bread and Puppet Theatre, and Frantic Assembly in London. As a writer, Masha is drawn to stories of motherhood and violence, belonging and community, climate futures, complicated familial dynamics, absurd satires, and sapphic love stories.

Photo credit: Emelia Hellman

Rae-Michelle Comodero (she/her) is a professional actor and artist based in Montreal. An alumni of Concordia University’s Acting program and Imago Theatre’s ARTISTA Mentorship program, Rae-Michelle spent a year travelling and performing across Eastern Canada under Geordie Theatre’s 2PlayTour. Now a full-time confused adult and ever-evolving artist, she is hungrier than ever to create, to explore, to fail, to learn, to grow. She’s excited to finally take part in the YCU program! Who knew her years of experience as a teen writing fanfiction would come in handy?

Photo credit: Jeremy Cabrera

Playwright, director, performer, creator, crafter, masker, deviser, Concordia Theatre grad, jester, organiser, traveller, choreographer, daydreamer, sh*t-disturber, artist, and all around side-quest achiever. Not in that order. My art comes out political because everything that fed it was political to begin with. It is my privilege to make art while fascism is on the rise, so I work to make people laugh until we’re all uncomfortable enough to take action.

(Also)(I <3 public transportation) (It’s relevant, trust)

Photo credit: Diya Kapoor

Blessed with an unflappable Ontarian twang, SILAS JAMES is a queer and trans writer, literary performer, editor, publicist, producer, and nightlife anthropologist based in Tiohtià/Montreal. Part unreliable socialite, part field researcher, his work spans criticism, fiction, theatre, and long-form literary monologue. His writing is known for its dark humour, atmospheric tension, and fascination with social performance, emotional instability, and scenes in various stages of collapse. Drawing from queer nightlife, internet subcultures, and religious imagery, his work treats bars, parties, and art scenes as both fragile social ecosystems and apocalypse landscapes. His first play, We All Died at The Lesbian Bar, debuted at the 2026 Montreal Fringe Festival to a sold-out run and received the Patron’s Choice Award. He loves crosswords, Jesus, and aperol spritzes.

Photo credit: Rory Creelman

Trusha Chauhan is an emerging writer from Leicester, England, now based in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal). Her work is often inspired by a physical sensation, taking shape around themes of taboo, pain, and the horrors and delights of the body. Over the past few years, Trusha has explored these ideas across fiction, film, poetry and playwriting. Her most recent work, a short rendition of ‘Gut Girl’, was staged as part of Imago Theatre’s Simmer Festival.

Wren Deslauriers is a Montreal-based theatre artist of Caribbean and French Canadian descent from Toronto, Ontario. She recently received her BFA from Concordia University, graduating with distinction in Performance Creation and English literature. Wren believes in the enduring ability stories have to connect with people across time and space. Whether it be Greek theatre or Shakespeare, there’s something universal to the human condition that provokes us to hold onto these stories. Her work explores empathy, connection and the universality of the human experience.

Photo credit: Dillon Marshall